Motility Disorder Treatments

At Henry Ford Health, our dedicated gastroenterologists provide advanced motility disorder treatments to help restore your digestive health. We are highly regarded throughout Michigan and the Midwest for our expertise with complex GI conditions and our range of minimally invasive treatments.

Motility disorder care: Why choose Henry Ford?

At our Center for Motility Disorders, you’ll find:

• Leading experts: Our gastroenterologists have specialized training in disorders that affect how your gastrointestinal tract and its nerves function. They treat complex motility disorders such as gastroparesis, achalasia and irritable bowel syndrome.
• Personalized care: We take time to understand how motility disorder symptoms affect your quality of life. We tailor care to your medical needs and personal preferences to help you heal physically and mentally.
• Minimally invasive treatments: We are Michigan’s leading provider of peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM). This achalasia treatment is performed entirely through the mouth. Other leading-edge procedures include gastric neurostimulator surgery and the LINX® device for gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Motility disorder treatments and services at Henry Ford

Our skilled gastroenterologists offer multiple nonsurgical and surgical motility disorder treatments to help you find relief.

Nonsurgical motility disorder treatment

You may be able to manage your motility disorder with nonsurgical treatments such as:

• Dietary changes: A dietitian helps you change your eating habits and food choices to improve digestion.
• Botulinum toxin injections: Botox® injections relax muscles in your esophagus to help treat swallowing disorders. They also relax muscles in your stomach to help treat gastroparesis.
• Medication: Medications relieve symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. Some medications also improve digestion.
• Behavioral therapy: Our gastrointestinal psychologist teaches strategies for managing the mental and emotional challenges of a motility disorder.

Surgery for motility disorders

At Henry Ford, our gastroenterologists and surgeons are often the first to introduce the latest GI surgeries to Michigan. We routinely perform complex procedures that many other centers don’t offer, with a focus on minimally invasive endoscopic procedures. You recover faster with less pain, so you can start enjoying life again.

Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM)

POEM is a minimally invasive treatment for achalasia and other swallowing disorders. Your therapeutic endoscopist guides an endoscope into your mouth and down to the lower part of your esophagus. We cut muscles around the opening to your stomach to make food easier to swallow. POEM doesn’t require any incisions in your abdomen.

We also offer other types of POEM:

• G-POEM for gastroparesis: We cut muscles between your stomach and small intestine so food can empty out of your stomach.
• Z-POEM for Zenker’s diverticulum: We cut muscles between your throat and esophagus to relieve symptoms of dysphagia, chronic couch and regurgitation.

Gastric neurostimulator surgery

We implant a small, battery-powered device beneath your skin near your stomach. The device sends electrical pulses to the nerves in your stomach, which helps reduce gastroparesis symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting.

EsoFLIP® esophageal dilation for achalasia

EsoFLIP is a new dilation procedure for achalasia and dysphagia. We insert a catheter through your mouth and inflate a small balloon inside your esophagus to stretch the lower esophagus open. Widening the esophagus can help you swallow.

Transoral incisionless fundoplication (TIF)

TIF is an endoscopic procedure for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). We perform TIF through your mouth, with the use of an endoscope, so there are no incisions in your abdomen. Your surgeon uses a device like a collar to tighten the opening between your esophagus and stomach (gastroesophageal sphincter). It acts as a barrier, preventing stomach acid from entering your esophagus.

LINX® procedure (magnetic sphincter augmentation)

The LINX device is a small band of titanium beads that we place around the lower end of your esophagus. The beads are magnetic, so they spread apart to allow food to pass from your esophagus to your stomach. Once the food has passed, the beads tighten to prevent reflux. Learn more about minimally invasive LINX device surgery.